Leave Fireworks to the Professionals
The fireworks that mark the celebrations of the Fourth of July, Chinese New Year, Canada Day, New Year's Eve, and Mardi Gras are dangerous explosive devices that should never be used by amateurs.

Each year thousands of people - many of them children - are burned, blinded, even disfigured by fireworks. In addition, fireworks cause fires that cost us millions of dollars in propery loss.

The lesson is simple: leave fireworks to the professionals.

Warn your children.

Teach kids to tell an adult if they find fireworks. It's too risky to pick them up - especially if they're smoking, charred, or appear to have been lit.

Legal Doesn't Mean Safe
Most firworks injuries are reported in states where they are legal. Even if the sale and possession of fireworks are not banned in your area, it is simply too dangerous to use them or be around friends who use them.

Sparklers may seem harmless, but they aren't toys. A burning sparkler can reach temperatures of 1200 degrees F (649 degrees C) and stay hot long after it's burned out.